Frustrations
by Takada Saiko
Summary: Oneshot. Spock speaks with Spock about Jim, future and present. R&R please


Title: Frustrations

Author: Takada Saiko

Disclaimers: I don't own, but I love.

A/N: I'm running a bit slower on my other fic, so I thought I'd write this one… just to give ya'll something to poke around at. Oh, also, for those that have not read my other Star Trek fanfics: Spock is the younger Spock and I refer to Spock-Prime as Ambassador or Ambassador Spock to avoid confusion.

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Two figures sat opposite each other in the recreation room of the _USS Enterprise_. Between them was a board, towering seven levels upward with chess pieces scattered across. Playing the white was the ship's first officer. Young, brilliant, and half Vulcan, his dark brown eyes watched the board with keen interest, fully captivated by the game that had unfolded before him, or so it might seem to anyone who might wander in and decide to watch the two.

His opponent reached a wrinkled, thin hand forward, moving a piece. He was much older than the science officer. Greying hair highlighted with white covered his head, contrasting the dark black of his challenger. His face had many wrinkles, and his eyes sunk a bit deeper with his age, and they shined with a reserved amusement as they peered ahead. "I do believe it is your move," he said easily, the amusement that was dancing in his eyes etched slightly into his voice.

A younger version of those aging eyes peered back, but these were much more reserved. "Yes," the younger half-Vulcan said at length.

"What is distracting you, Spock?"

Spock averted his gaze immediately, looking only at the board In front of him, but in truth he was looking straight through it. "I have a personal query, though I do not wish to speak it."

"We are alone, and who better to ask than yourself?" The Ambassador looked almost as if he were gently smiling at his younger counterpart, though his lips never twitched upward. They had made it a habit, these two, to meet and play chess whenever the opportunity arose. It so happened that the _Enterprise_ had been sent to pick the aging ambassador up from New Vulcan and take him to Earth on business. "Do you think I may not know the answer?"

"I am sure you have the answer."

"Then is it logical to withhold the question?"

The younger Spock looked around him momentarily and after noting that they were, indeed, alone in the rec room, he let out a small sigh, his shoulders slumped out of their rigid posture, and the game suddenly was not his focus. His eyes did not seem to be trained on anything in particular, and it took a long moment for him to answer. "No, it is not logical." He looked at his elder self and received a look that encouraged him to continue. "The… Jim Kirk of your time…" He trailed off, pausing as if he were not comfortable with what he was about to say.

"Spock," his elder self said in a calming tone. "I will not judge anything that you say. Your thoughts may be different from mine, as we have now lead different lives, but I will strive to help you in any way that I can. I am, regardless, the most likely person to… understand you."

"What was you assessment of the Jim Kirk of your time?"

The elder Spock arched an eyebrow at this. "The James Kirk that I know – the one that I spent so long with – was a man of the utmost character. He was brave, to use the Human emotion, and very intelligent. He was, and always will be, my friend." He paused and steepled his fingers in a thoughtful way. "I see many of the same traits in the Kirk of this time, though with a couple of alterations. They are minor, though, and hardly worth noting." His eyes locked with his young counterpart. "That has not answered what you wished to be answered though."

"It has not," Spock agreed. He moved one of the chess pieces forward. "Do you… believe that he intends to elicit emotional responses from me?"

"In what circumstance?"

"All."

"You are exaggerating," Ambassador Spock chastised gently as he moved. "Check."

The younger half-Vulcan studied the board intently. "He… _frustrates_ me." The words were spoken with feeling that would only be displayed before his other self. His jaw was set firmly, teeth clenched, and eyes focused solely on the chess boards.

An almost chuck-like sound escaped from the elder Spock's lips. "This is all?"

Spock looked up sharply. "All?" he demanded. "I do not understand."

"You will," the ambassador promised. "But to answer your questions: No, I do not believe that Jim means to vex you. He seems to have a strange talent for it. Secondly, yes, my Jim did often frustrate me. He was highly illogical and overly emotional. While he was a brilliant captain, but that is not to say that his humanity did not regularly get in his way. He and Dr. McCoy regularly tried to… urge me into an emotional state. They never knew that it bothered me because I never showed it. He does not do it out of malice. It is simply who he is."

"Illogical."

"Yes. Very much so."

Something seemed to click inside of Spock. "He is not trying to make me meet his Human standards."

"Correct. He merely wishes to see you reach every potential that you can, be it Vulcan or Human, just as I presume you would wish to see in him."

"Check," Spock murmured as he moved one of his pieces.

"Do not ponder over it too much," his elder self said. "He means you no harm by it."

"I know, but he still frustrates me, and that is illogical..." He let out an other small sigh.

"Who does?"

Both Vulcans looked up to see Jim Kirk standing in the door way, grinning like the Cheshire Cat. When no one answered his question, he glanced over to the game, moved forward, and clasped his first officer on the shoulder. "You'll lose in three moves."

Two eyebrows shot up in surprise. "That would be a very illogical move, Ambassador."

"One I learned from an old friend," the other answered, the amusement back.

Jim continued to grin. "You're welcome."

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A/N: Just a tidbit. R&R, because I'm addicted to reviews like I'm addicted to peanut butter m&ms… mmmmm…. Good.


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